WYMHM: The myth of exceptionalism in talent shows

Some might contend that the recognition that a woman of less than conventionally attractive demeanour could still charm and fascinate dealt a blow to cynical judgment by appearance. I doubt it. Physical perfectibility, and one's individual responsibility to achieve and maintain it, remains another entrenched value of contemporary culture. From supermodel Kate Moss's sun-seared wrinkles "exposed" in Heat magazine, to footballer Cristiano Ronaldo's sculpted abdominals displayed like a gauntlet in the latest Armani underwear campaign, both women and men are informed that, while they may not have time, energy or organisation to change the world, it is beholden upon them to change themselves. The language of positive collective action is co-opted for frantic personal primping: because we're worth it.

WYMHM: "The question of whether real-world notions of interpersonal harm apply to virtual assault or sexual assault is unresolved."

Three-dimensional virtual environments (3dves) are the new generation of digital multi-user social networking platforms. Their immersive character allows users to create a digital humanised representation or avatar, enabling a degree of virtual interaction not possible through conventional text-based internet technologies. As recent international experience demonstrates, in addition to the conventional range of cybercrimes (including economic fraud, the dissemination of child pornography and copyright violations), the 'virtual-reality' promoted by 3dves is the source of great speculation and concern over a range of specific and emerging forms of crime and harm to users. This paper provides some examples of the types of harm currently emerging in 3dves and suggests internal regulation by user groups, terms of service, or end-user licensing agreements, possibly linked to real-world criminological principles. This paper also provides some directions for future research aimed at understanding the role of Australian criminal law and the justice system more broadly in this emerging field.

WYMHM: "To be relevant today requires understanding context, popularity, and reputation."

In a networked era, there will be no destination, but rather a network of content and people. We cannot assume that content will be organized around topics or that people will want to consume content organized as such. We're already seeing this in streams-based media consumption. When consuming information through social media tools, people consume social gossip alongside productive content, news alongside status updates. Right now, it's one big mess. But the key is not going to be to create distinct destinations organized around topics, but to find ways in which content can be surfaced in context, regardless of where it resides.

Making content work in a networked era is going to be about living in the streams, consuming and producing alongside "customers." Consuming to understand, producing to be relevant. Content creators are not going to get to dictate the cultural norms just because they can make their content available; they are still accountable to those who are trafficking content.

 

WYMHM: "use of exergames significantly improved mood and mental health-related quality of life in older adults"

In the study, 19 participants with SSD ranging in age from 63 to 94 played an exergame on the video game system during 35-minute sessions, three times a week. After some initial instruction, they chose one of the five Nintendo Wii Sports games to play on their own - tennis, bowling, baseball, golf or boxing.

Using the Wii remote - a wireless device with motion-sensing capabilities - the seniors used their arm and to simulate actions engaged in playing the actual sport, such as swinging the remote like a tennis racket. The participants reported high satisfaction and rated the exergames on various attributes including enjoyment, mental effort, and physical limitations.

WYMHM: "the more I use Buzz, the more I like it."

The discoverability of new people to follow is better than on any other service. People actually have conversations, rather than one-off posts followed by sporadic heckling. There's no sophomoric "poking," Mafia wars or invitations to inane "causes" to wade through every day. You can fine-tune the signal-to-noise ratio on Buzz very easily.

Then it hit me. Rather than controlling, containing or eliminating Buzz, why not open the Buzz floodgates and do a scorched-earth on everything else?

WYMHM: "Hendrix's mixed-handedness was associated with increased integration of the left and right sides of his brain"

Jimi Hendrix's mixed-handedness, and the ensuing enhancement of interaction between the left and right sides of his brain, resulted in a synergetic confluence of factors that led to both his groundbreaking style of guitar playing and the engaging and provocative nature of his songs and lyrics. Perhaps the most important aspect of the current paper, from the perspective of handedness researchers, is the argument that modern “right-handed” guitars are better viewed as left-handed guitars in terms of the relative motor demands on the two hands, and that Hendrix's superlative guitar abilities arose from the fact that he played a “left-handed” guitar and was thus able to use his more dextrous right hand on the guitar's fretboard.

WYMHM: "responsiveness is key for digital communication"

Not all forms of communication are created equal. For establishing trust, video is better than audio (with no video), and audio is better than a chat window. The logic of this hierarchy seems intuitive: People communicate as much, if not more, with how an idea is conveyed, than with what it said. Shifty eyes and raised shoulders can reveal anxiety; intonation can convey passion. The more non-substantive information the medium can convey, the more data a listener has to decide how trustworthy the speaker is.

WYMHM: "What I want are master learners, not master teachers, learners who see my kids as their apprentices for learning."

When we moved to compulsory schooling, kids began to learn not from master doers so much as from master knowers, because we decided there were certain things that every child needed to know in order to be “educated.” And we looked for adults who could impart that knowledge, who could teach it in ways that every child could learn it.

My sense is that we need to rethink the role of those adults once again, and that we’re coming full circle.